Elon Musk has struck a deal to acquire Twitter for $44bn (£34.5bn), with the aim of unlocking its 'enormous potential'.
As we reported at the beginning of April, Musk initially acquired a 9% stake in Twitter, which has turned out to have been the opening move in the billionaire's plan to acquire the social platform. Since then, events have moved at a remarkable pace.
🚀💫♥️ Yesss!!! ♥️💫🚀 pic.twitter.com/0T9HzUHuh6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
Musk launched a hostile offer for Twitter at $54.20 per share. After reports of talks between Musk and the Twitter board over the weekend, the share price rose to $51.47 in pre-market trading.
Twitter's board, having initially opted for a poison pill defence against what it saw as an unwanted approach, decided to open talks with Musk on a possible deal.
I made an offer https://t.co/VvreuPMeLu
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2022
The billionaire has talked about making big changes at Twitter, and considered that the investment would only be worthwhile if he had the authority that ownership would give him.
One major gripe cited by Musk was the lack of free speech on the platform. Twitter's current moderation policies, which many would argue are not effective enough given the toxicity of the platform at times.
There's been plenty of talk on Twitter about the deal, with lots of Twitter users threatening to leave the platform and head elsewhere. Whether people will leave in significant numbers remains to be seen.
Elon Musk walking into Twitter headquarters pic.twitter.com/TQYVdDE2rb
— Dr. Parik Patel, BA, CFA, ACCA Esq. (drpatel.eth) (@ParikPatelCFA) April 25, 2022